European Parliament pushes for Free Software migration

on: 2015-11-10

On 29 October 2015, the European Parliament
adopted a report (2015/2635(RSP)), which condemned mass surveillance throughout
Europe. While focusing primarily on legal precedents of data protection,
Parliament proposed new recommendations to improve IT security
by migrating to free software, as well as adding free software as a
mandatory selection criterion in public IT procurement.

Specifically, Section 47 of the report:

Welcomes the steps taken so far to
strengthen Parliament’s IT security, as outlined in the action plan on
EP ICT Security prepared by DG ITEC; asks for these efforts to be continued
and the recommendations made in the resolution fully and swiftly carried
out; calls for fresh thinking and, if necessary, legislative change in
the field of procurement to enhance the IT security of the EU institutions;
calls for the systematic replacement of proprietary software by
auditable and verifiable open-source software in all the EU institutions,
for the introduction of a mandatory ’open-source’ selection criterion in
all future ICT procurement procedures, and for efficient availability of
encryption tools.

This is a welcome change in rhetoric
from the previous version of the resolution (2013/2188(INI) Section 91).
The new version uses stronger language to push for migrating to Free
Software as a way to improve transparency and security in EU IT systems.
Although resolutions passed in the European Parliament are non-binding,
passage of this report sends a strong message to the European Commission
to include provisions for Free Software in future legislation.

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Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
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Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives. It is important
that this technology empowers rather than restricts us. Free Software
gives everybody the rights to use, understand, adapt and share software.
These rights help support other fundamental rights like freedom of
speech, freedom of press and privacy.